By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina fell three spots to No. 22 in the AP Top 25 women’s poll heading into a challenging week that could go a long way toward determining if the Tar Heels will be first- and second-round hosts in the NCAA tournament.
UNC (19–8, 10–6 ACC) rebounded from Thursday’s 77–66 overtime loss at N.C. State with a convincing 71–58 home win Sunday over Wake Forest, led by Deja Kelly’s 24 points. The Tar Heels face No. 9 Virginia Tech at home at 8 p.m. Thursday (regional sports networks) and visit No. 11 Duke at noon Sunday (regional sports networks).
The Hokies (22–4, 12–4) have won six in a row and moved up two spots after beating Duke 61–45 on Thursday and finishing a regular-season sweep of N.C. State with a 75–62 home win Sunday.
The Blue Devils (23–4, 13–3), who share the ACC lead with No. 10 Notre Dame (22–4, 13–3), rebounded from losing to Virginia Tech with a 56–52 win Sunday at Virginia but fell two spots. The Irish’s rank didn’t change after beating Louisville 78–76 and Pittsburgh 83–43.
No. 22 ties for UNC’s lowest ranking of the season. The Tar Heels were also ranked No. 22 for two consecutive weeks, on Jan. 2 and Jan. 9.
Before Carolina’s win over the Deacons, ESPN projected the Tar Heels to be a No. 5 seed, and only top-four seeds are hosts for the first two rounds. Carolina is 25th in the NET rankings and 21st in the Massey Ratings.
Even if Carolina wins both games, it won’t earn a double bye in the ACC tournament. No women’s team without a double bye has won the title in the event’s history.
Carolina hopes junior wing Alyssa Ustby (lower-body injury) returns to the lineup. UNC coach Courtney Banghart said that Ustby remains “day-to-day.” She has missed the last five games. Fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) has missed the last eight games but isn’t expected back until next month.
Banghart called a matchup like Thursday’s senior night game with the Hokies “awesome.”
“We know them really well. They know us really well. It’s been one of the very best rivalries in the ACC since the years I’ve been here,” said Banghart, pointing out that her games against Virginia Tech have usually been close. “Our games are always very intense with them. I know our guys are ready for it and excited about it.”
The Tar Heels will seek to avenge a 68–65 New Year’s Day loss in Blacksburg when Georgia Amoore scored 24 points and six 3-pointers. Virginia Tech has won seven of the last nine meetings, but UNC rolled to a 71–46 win in Chapel Hill last season.
“They’ve got a lot of different things that they do well, just like we do,” Banghart said. “And that’s why these are two of the better programs, not only in our conference, but in the nation. We know that it’s a big week. And you’d rather be in big games than talking about them.”
On Sunday, Carolina will seek its second consecutive regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels held on for a 61–56 win in Carmichael Arena on Jan. 19.
The only other ranked ACC team is Florida State (22–7, 11–5), which moved up one spot to No. 23 after beating Syracuse 78–65 and Georgia Tech 80–66.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 15 is Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter. He also was the only voter who had Indiana No. 1.
Nine voters left the Tar Heels off their ballots: Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald, Danny Davis of the Austin American-Stateman, Davis Cloniner of The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., Jeff Linder of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Joe Vozelli of the Champaign News-Gazette, Kevin Trsolini of delawareonline.com, Lindsay Schnell of USA Today, M.A. Voepel of ESPN and Robert Cessna of the Bryan-College Station Eagle.
Other voters had Carolina No. 17 (Debbie Antonelli), No. 18 (Michelle Smith), No. 20 (4), No. 21 (5), No. 22 (4), No. 23 (1), No. 24 (1) and No. 25 (1).
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points (1st-place votes0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (27–0) | — | 699 (27) |
| 2 | Indiana (26–1) | — | 672 (1) |
| 3 | Stanford (25–3) | — | 634 |
| 4 | UConn (24–4) | +2 | 585 |
| 5 | LSU (25–1) | — | 573 |
| 6 | Iowa (22–5) | +1 | 567 |
| 7 | Maryland (22–5) | +1 | 522 |
| 8 | Utah (23–3) | -4 | 507 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech (22–4) | +2 | 488 |
| 10 | Notre Dame (22–4) | — | 464 |
| 11 | Duke (23–4) | -2 | 416 |
| 12 | Michigan (20–6) | — | 340 |
| 13 | Oklahoma (22–4) | +2 | 336 |
| 14 | Arizona (21–6) | +4 | 322 |
| 15 | Villanova (23–5) | -1 | 296 |
| 16 | Ohio State (22–5) | -3 | 291 |
| 17 | UCLA (21–6) | -1 | 279 |
| 18 | Gonzaga (25–3) | +2 | 206 |
| 19 | Texas (21–7) | -2 | 186 |
| 20 | Iowa State (17–7) | +2 | 167 |
| 21 | Colorado (21–6) | — | 113 |
| 22 | North Carolina (19–8) | -3 | 100 |
| 23 | Florida State (22–7) | +1 | 96 |
| 24 | UNLV (25–2) | -1 | 78 |
| 25 | Illinois (20–7) | — | 29 |
Others receiving votes:
Middle Tennessee 29, South Florida 25, Oklahoma State 18, Creighton 14, North Carolina State 13, Florida Gulf Coast 7, Louisville 7, Tennessee 7, Marquette 3, Cleveland State 3, South Dakota State 2, Toledo 1, USC 1, Columbia 1, Illinois State 1, UMass 1, Ole Miss 1
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 17 Duke | 12–0 | 17–6 | 14 |
| No. 6 Louisville | 11–1 | 21–4 | 7 |
| Syracuse | 9–3 | 19–4 | 39 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 16–7 | 26 |
| No. 25 North Carolina | 8–3 | 19–5 | 21 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–4 | 18–6 | 42 |
| Virginia | 8–4 | 16–7 | 38 |
| Clemson | 7–5 | 16–8 | 37 |
| Notre Dame | 7–5 | 15–8 | 31 |
| Stanford | 5–6 | 16–8 | 36 |
| California | 5–6 | 14–10 | 54 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–7 | 10–14 | 94 |
| Miami | 4–8 | 12–11 | 49 |
| Florida State | 2–9 | 7–16 | 110 |
| Wake Forest | 3–9 | 13–11 | 123 |
| SMU | 1–10 | 8–15 | 181 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–10 | 8–16 | 260 |
| Boston College | 0–12 | 4–21 | 248 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Thursday’s results
No. 25 North Carolina 53, Clemson 44
Stanford 86, Boston College 65
No. 17 Duke 59, No. 6 Louisville 58
Notre Dame 80, Virginia Tech 70
Virginia 67, Miami 56
California 63, Georgia Tech 56
Wake Forest 70, SMU 65
N.C. State 83, Florida State 55
Sunday’s games
No. 6 Louisville at Syracuse, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
California at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. ACCN Extra
No. 25 North Carolina at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at No. 17 Duke, 2 p.m. The CW
Notre Dame at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
| Date | Month/day | Time/score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Location | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | |||||
| 9 | Wednesday | W, 91–59 | Jackson State | Home | 1–0 |
| 12 | Saturday | W, 75–48 | TCU | Home | 2–0 |
| 16 | Wednesday | W, 93–25 | South Carolina State | Home | 3–0 |
| 20 | Sunday | W, 76–65 | James Madison | Harrisonburg, Va. | 4–0 |
| Phil Knight Invitational | |||||
| 24 | Thursday | W, 85–79 | Oregon | Portland | 5–0 |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 73–64 | No. 17 Iowa State | Portland | 6–0 |
| December | ACC/Big Ten Challenge | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | L, 87–63 | No. 2 Indiana | Bloomington, Ind. | 6–1 |
| 7 | Wednesday | W, 64–42 | UNCW | Home | 7–1 |
| 11 | Sunday | W, 99–67 | Wofford | Home | 8–1 |
| 16 | Friday | W, 89–47 | USC Upstate | Home | 9–1 |
| Jumpman Invitational | |||||
| 20 | Tuesday | L, 76–68 | No. 18 Michigan | Charlotte | 9–2 |
| ACC season begins | |||||
| 29 | Thursday | L, 78–71 | Florida State | Home | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| January | |||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 68–65 | No. 4 Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, Va. | 9–4, 0–2 ACC |
| 5 | Thursday | L, 62–58 | Miami | Coral Gables, Fla. | 9–5, 0–3 ACC |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 60–50 | No. 10 Notre Dame | Home | 10–5, 1–3 ACC |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 70–59 | Virginia | Charlottesville, Va. | 11–5, 2–3 ACC |
| 15 | Sunday | W, 56–47 | N.C. State | Home | 12–5, 3–3 ACC |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 61–56 | No. 13 Duke | Home | 13–5, 4–3 ACC |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 70–57 | Georgia Tech | Home | 14–5, 5–3 ACC |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 72–57 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | 15–5, 6–3 ACC |
| 29 | Sunday | W, 69–58 | Clemson | Clemson | 16–5, 7–3 ACC |
| February | |||||
| 2 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | Virginia | Home | 17–5, 8–3 ACC |
| 5 | Sunday | L, 62–55 | Louisville | Louisville | 17–6, 8–4 ACC |
| 9 | Thursday | L, 75–67 | Syracuse | Syracuse | 17–7, 8–5 ACC |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 73–55 | Boston College | Home | 18–7, 9–5 ACC |
| 16 | Thursday | L, 77–66, OT | N.C. State | Raleigh | 18–8, 9–6 ACC |
| 19 | Sunday | W, 71–58 | Wake Forest | Home | 19–8, 10–6 ACC |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 61–59 | No. 4 Virginia Tech | Home | 19–9, 10–7 ACC |
| 26 | Sunday | W, 45–41 | No. 13 Duke | Durham | 20–9, 10–8 ACC |
| March | ACC Tournament | ||||
| 2 | Thursday | W, 68–58 | Clemson | Greensboro | 21–9 |
| 3 | Friday | L, 44–40 | No. 13 Duke | Greensboro | 21–10 |
| NCAA tournament | |||||
| 18 | Saturday | W, 61–59 | St. John’s | Columbus, Ohio | 22–10 |
| 20 | Monday | L, 71–69 | No. 12 Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | 22–11 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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